I am one to hold off in buying something we need or want until it goes on sale.  I am a clearance cruiser, coupon clipping connoisseur in the shopping world.  No matter what it is, I will only buy it if I think it is bargain that truly meets our needs now and in the future.  The same goes for whatever we buy, sell or trade.  Why?

Randy and I are driven by prayers to God for help us make wise choices.  We want to be great stewards of all He has given us to manage on this earth.   We are not “rich” in a millionaire’s way of thinking but we are extremely rich in God’s love and care, forgiveness and healing, along with His provisions and protection.  We are eternally grateful for all God has done, is doing and will do in our lives.  We have done nothing to deserve any of what God has to offer.  We know that full well.  So, to God be all the glory, honor and praise.  This is my testimony!  God, it’s all God!

I think of this as we read our next chapter of Isaiah who is telling God’s people about what to “buy and eat.”  “Buy without money!” What God has for us needs no money!  Drink the Living Water and eat the Bread of Life who is Jesus, our Savior and Lord!  From the penniless to the exceedingly rich by the world’s standards, it doesn’t matter, all are welcome to come to the Table.  Don’t be distracted by junk food along the way, hold your appetite, be filled with all that is God!  Seek HIM while He can be found and pray for His forgiveness.  God is “lavish” with forgiveness!  This is the best deal in town!  The best offer for all eternity!

I love the last verse of Isaiah 54.  I long to be evidence that God lived in me and worked through me.  Along with the mountains, hills, trees and flowers, my I be living and lasting evidence of God on this earth!

Isaiah 55, The Message

Buy Without Money

^1-5 “Hey there! All who are thirsty,
    come to the water!
Are you penniless?
    Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
    Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
    your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
    fill yourself with only the finest.

Pay attention, come close now,
    listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
    the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
    made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
    You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
    will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
    because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”

^6-7 Seek God while he’s here to be found,
    pray to him while he’s close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
    and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
    come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

^8-11 “I don’t think the way you think.
    The way you work isn’t the way I work.”
        God’s Decree.
“For as the sky soars high above earth,
    so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
    and the way I think is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
    and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
    producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So will the words that come out of my mouth
    not come back empty-handed.
They’ll do the work I sent them to do,
    they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.

^12-13 “So you’ll go out in joy,
    you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
    bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
    exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant sequoias,
    no more thornbushes, but stately pines—
Monuments to me, to God,
    living and lasting evidence of God.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Who doesn’t want joy and peace in their lives in good times and even in the difficult, heartbreaking, challenging times of this short life on earth?  I want joy.  I want to live a joyful life.  I also want others to know the Source of that joy on my face—it is Jesus who not only forgives me but restores me, repairs the broken pieces, puts me back on my feet, transforming all the bad that happens to good to better outcomes in my life.  That’s where the joy comes from—in loving obedience to Someone who surpasses what my small mind can think or do.

“So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.”

Lord,

You are God in all, over all and through all because you created all.  You also sent Jesus to bring us back to what is right, good, and pleasing to you.  You not only made things right between us, you gave us joy and peace.  What a gift that no money can buy!  I love you, Lord, with all my heart, mind, and soul.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen